Enmity of any kind between the peoples living in the Central European shared destiny is pointless, "friendship and alliances are the key to the survival of all of us", said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the ceremony held on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the handing over of the Mária Valéria bridge, on Monday in Esztergom.

In his speech, the prime minister highlighted: "at the border of two countries that, individually and together, have learned a serious lesson from the aggression of the invaders of the past century, it is easy to see that we Slovaks and Hungarians are not enemies, but partners in fate". Smart neighbors don't go to war or antagonize each other, he said.

He emphasized: cooperation between two nations that respect each other's culture is always fruitful. "You can be proud to be European and Slovak, proud European and Hungarian at the same time", it is possible to produce economic growth that reaches everyone, it is possible to create jobs for everyone, and "in the meantime, we don't have to deny our way of life, ourselves, our past and our values"

He added:

there is no successful Hungary without a successful Slovakia, and vice versa.

Viktor Orbán explained: they are not inaugurating a bridge now, but commemorating a bridge inauguration twenty years ago, but it is about more than a simple anniversary. In a bridge inauguration speech, it can be said that the bridge connects people and countries, and the pillars rising out of the water also symbolize the rock solidity of faith in a common future. He also told similar truths 20 years ago.

He believed that today it is necessary to say more than this and in a different tone, today new winds are blowing, today we see the world in a different way. At that time, it had been a decade since we "threw off the Soviet collar", we were new members of NATO, and we were three years away from the gate of European integration. He added: we hoped that joining the EU would solve all our problems.

All the peoples of Central Europe were rightly optimistic, "we thought that the really struggling years were behind us, we thought that we were over the difficulties".

He highlighted:

today, the atmosphere of that time has vanished, evaporated, we had to realize that we cannot entrust our own future to the goodwill of external actors. "We ourselves have to fight for our own success every single day".

He noted: there are hardly any two peoples who see the world so similarly as the Slovaks and the Hungarians. The only thing that actually separates us is language.

According to the Prime Minister

twenty years ago, "even Brussels was on our side" and supported us, helping to rebuild this bridge as well. Today, however, Central Europeans are increasingly not seen as equal partners, but as second-rate member states.

He explained: they want to force on us those with whom we do not want to live, they want to force on us something that would limit our economic opportunities, and "they also want to force on us a lifestyle that is in opposition to everything that we think is valuable and should be preserved". This threat is difficult to deal with.

He said:

Central Europe was crossed by foreign powers several times, the foreigners always destroyed the bridges, and we always had to rebuild them.

Viktor Orbán stressed: the peoples and states of the region can only be successful if they cooperate. A successful Central Europe is only important to us, not to anyone else, so anyone who argues against cooperation is speaking against himself.

He said: the two decades that have passed since the construction of the bridge have taught us that "Hungary and Slovakia should go hand in hand". This has already brought the first results, the Visegrád four (V4) were able to grow continuously in the decade left behind.

According to Viktor Orbán, the V4 has built an efficient and stable alliance, and has given joint responses to civilizational crises. This was also the case during the financial, migration and coronavirus crises.

The Prime Minister stated: 20 years after the reconstruction of the bridge, there is a Central European cooperation that is stronger than ever. "We want to be good students of history; not only do we have to rebuild the bridges, but we also have to remember who destroyed them," he said, adding: if we don't do this, it will happen again and again.

The Mária Valéria bridge has remained a symbol, it says, "We are the future of Europe, and we must not let the bridges that connect us be destroyed ever again." Our fate is still shared, our tasks have only increased, and our responsibility has increased - said Viktor Orbán.

Heger: The Mária Valéria bridge is a success story, a story of two good neighbors 

The Mária Valéria Bridge is a success story and a story of two good neighbors - declared Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger at the ceremony organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the handing over of the Mária Valéria Bridge, which he attended together with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In his speech, the Slovak Prime Minister praised the importance of good neighborly relations between the two countries. He pointed out: the handing over of the Mária Valéria bridge 20 years ago is a success story that inspired the development of relations and cooperation between the two countries, thanks to which many joint infrastructural developments serving the interests of the population of both countries were implemented.

"This story is the story of two good neighbors, a success story," emphasized Eduard Heger, adding: Slovakia and Hungary are also considered a success story within the EU and V4.

The Slovak Prime Minister revived the circumstances of the handover of the bridge two decades ago, and then quoted from the speeches given by the Prime Ministers Viktor Orbán and Dzurinda Mikulás at the handover in 2001. Eduard Heger, symbolically responding to Dzurinda's suggestion at the time - that the future will show whether the handover of the bridge will go down in history - now said: this question has now been decided, since the Mária Valéria bridge has become an encouraging success story, and it has also been shown that that the handing over of the bridge at that time was more than a symbolic act.

The Slovak prime minister said: since the handover of the Mária Valéria bridge, many new bridges and other infrastructural connections strengthening economic cooperation have been established, including "energy bridges" that have increased the energy security not only of the two countries, but also of the region. Eduard Heger pointed out: in addition to the new bridges and infrastructural connections, the two countries are also connected by their common interests, including their positions on nuclear energy and migration. He noted: the Mária Valéria bridge will be an encouraging symbol in the future, as it has been so far.

Source: magyarhirlap.hu. Opening image: Viktor Orbán's Facebook page.